ng. It was farther than he had thought, but the
soil was a loose sand and gravel, and he made good headway.

Then, laying down his shovel, he reached into a hysterical squirm of
soft hair and sharp little teeth that snapped at his gloved hand. One
by one he hauled them out, whining, biting, struggling like the little
savages they were. One by one he sent them into oblivion with a sharp
tap of the shovel. There were eight, just big enough to make little,
investigative trips outside the den when all was quiet. Ward was glad
he had found them and wiped them out of existence, but it had not been
pleasant work.

He wiped the perspiration off his face with his handkerchief, pushed
his hat to the back of his head, and sat down on the ledge beside the
pile of dirt he had thrown out. He felt the need of a smoke, after all
that exertion.

It was while he was smoking and resting that he first became conscious
of the pile of dirt as something more than the obstacle between himself
and the wolf-pups. He blew a little cloud of smoke from his mouth,
leaned and lifted a handful of sand, picked something out of it, and
looked at it intently. He said "Humph!" skeptically. Then he turned
his head and stared at the ledge above and to the right of him, twisted
half around and scanned the steep slope immediately above the earth
bank, and then looked at the gulch beneath him. He took his cigarette
from his lips, said, "Well, I'll be darned!" and put it back again.
With his forefinger he turned over a small, rusty lump the size of a
pea, wiped it upon his sleeve, and bent over it eagerly, holding it so
that the light struck it revealingly. His face glowed. Save the want
of tenderness in his eyes, he looked as though Billy Louise stood
before him; the same guarded gladness, the same intent eagerness.

Ward sprawled over that pile of gravel and sand and searched with his
fingers, as young girls search a thick bank of clover for the magic
four leaves. He found one other small lump that he kept, but beyond
that his search was barren of result. Still, that glow remained in his
face. Finally he roused himself as though he realized that he was
behaving foolishly. He made himself another cigarette and smoked it
fast, keeping pace with his shuttling thoughts. And by the time the
paper tube was burned down to an inch-long stub, he had won back his
manner of imperturbable calm; only his eyes betrayed a hidden
excitement.

"Looks li